Question
please please hepl my entire 4 acreas are mowed and 25 cottonwoods, were beautiful like a park!! this year i lost 8 yes 8  in one year when we cut three down there were black beetles inside where do they come from and how to i stop this NOW be fore i loose the rest of my beautiful huge old cottonwoods??????? please please help susan clark yes you can call me too (816) 309-7661 or e-mail  

Answer
There is not enough information to ID the problem. The beetles in the dead trees are not causing the trees to die. They infest dead trees and not living trees. I would lean toward maybe drought or maybe IF you applied a weed and feed type fertilizer to the area, or another environmental problem. This would cause damage. I would suggest you contact the Kansas State Forestry agency and ask one of their Foresters to come take a look. This is a free service. Here is a web link to their contact page. http://www.kansasforests.org/staff/rural/index.shtml

OOPS!!
I read the area code 816 as the Kansas city area but did not see the Missouri. sorry. Here is the Missouri Forestry agency contact web link. http://www.mdc.mo.gov/forest/contacts/